Tag: Jeremy Stephens

Jeremy Stephens Returns Against Rising Featherweight Star

It looks like Jeremy Stephens’ return to the Octagon will be against some stiff competition. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani is reporting that a fight between Stephens and rising featherweight prospect Zabit Magomedsharipov is in the works. The fight is targeted for UFC 235 on pay-per-view (PPV), which takes place on March 2nd from Las Vegas: “Zabit […]

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It looks like Jeremy Stephens’ return to the Octagon will be against some stiff competition.

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani is reporting that a fight between Stephens and rising featherweight prospect Zabit Magomedsharipov is in the works. The fight is targeted for UFC 235 on pay-per-view (PPV), which takes place on March 2nd from Las Vegas:

“Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Jeremy Stephens is in the works for UFC 235 on March 2 in Las Vegas, multiple sources told ESPN. The fight isn’t finalized just yet but moving in the right direction.”

Stephens comes off a disappointing defeat to former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. After racking up a three-fight win streak, Aldo stopped Stephens in the first round back in July. Now, “Lil Heathen” is looking to get back in the win column. However, he’ll face a difficult challenge against a grappler in Zabit, who has proven extremely dominant on the mat.

He is undefeated in his UFC tenure at the moment. The Russian is on a 12-fight win streak and hasn’t lost since his sole defeat back in 2013. Zabit has been chasing a high-profile fight in the division for quite some time. He finally has it in a proven name like Stephens, whose knockout power can end a fight on the drop of a dime. 

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Jose Aldo’s Coach Reacts To Conor McGregor’s Comments

Jose Aldo’s coach has reacted to Conor McGregor’s recent comments about his latest win.

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Jose Aldo’s coach has reacted to Conor McGregor’s comments.

The MMA superstar was highly complimentary of Aldo for his emotional TKO of Jeremy Stephens at July 28’s UFC on FOX 31. McGregor commented that the ‘whole of Ireland was happy for Aldo on that night.’

The comments may have come as a surprise to many due to McGregor’s bitter rivalry with Aldo in 2015. Aldo’s longtime coach wasn’t among those who were surprised, however.

McGregor acts differently because he has to sell his fights according to Andre Pederneiras. Aldo’s longtime mentor and coach recently told Brazilian media via MMA Fighting that McGregor was actually a respectful man:

”I think Conor created this pejorative myth around him because of the things he says, but backstage he’s none of what he portrays himself to be to sell. Every time I met him he was super respectful, we shook hands, so it doesn’t surprise me that he had that reaction, especially now that he doesn’t have anything booked with Aldo.

“If he had something booked with Aldo he would say he was lucky, that he’s sh*t [laughs], only to provoke. He’s a guy that had done things I can’t see anyone else doing. He’s unique in history, can’t say anything.”

McGregor infamously knocked out Aldo in 13 seconds at their awaited featherweight title fight at UFC 194. Pederneiras wants that fight back due to its result. He said fans didn’t get to really see what it could have been:

”The first fight didn’t represent what the fight really could be, and that’s unfortunate for everyone who wanted to watch it. So I would choose Conor even though I have nothing against him. I know there’s a good person behind that artist and it doesn’t represent what he says. He says a bunch of crap to get attention and sell.”

McGregor is now headed for a massive lightweight title bout with current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at October 6’s UFC 229. The fight became the most awaited and hyped fight in MMA because of McGregor’s now-infamous melee in Brooklyn, New York. The former champion faced assault charges and agreed to a plea deal for them last month.

Pederneiras said the UFC’s megastar knew exactly what he was doing. McGregor was simply building the hype in his opinion:

”That’s him being the artist, in my opinion. He knows that he will have to fight Khabib, so since he has to do that, why not start the mess now and start promoting it?”

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Alex Volkanovski Eyes Fights With Cub Swanson & Jeremy Stephens

Alex Volkanovski eyes fighters who will provide him a higher level of competition. Volkanovski is starting to make some waves in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight division. He’s riding a 15-fight winning streak. He hasn&#8217…

Alex Volkanovski eyes fighters who will provide him a higher level of competition. Volkanovski is starting to make some waves in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight division. He’s riding a 15-fight winning streak. He hasn’t lost a bout since May 2013. It’s the only defeat in his professional mixed martial arts career. “The Great” […]

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Here’s Who Jose Aldo Turned Down Before Fighting Jeremy Stephens

This would have been an interesting match-up.

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Jose Aldo turned down a fight before agreeing to fight Jeremy Stephens.

Aldo returned to the Octagon at UFC on FOX 30 late last month (Sat. July 28, 2018) against “Lil Heathen.” The former Brazilian champ defeated Stephens via first-round TKO after landing a hellacious body shot.

It was Aldo’s first win since the summer of 2016. “Scarface” suffered the first loss of his UFC career in December of 2015. He was knocked out and dethroned from the top of the 145-pound mountain by Conor McGregor in 13 seconds.

Aldo bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Frankie Edgar several months later. He was subsequently dethroned yet again after suffering back-to-back TKO losses to Max Holloway. Aldo once again established himself as a top contender with his victory over Stephens.

It was his first non-title fight in UFC history and the first of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career since 2009. It turns out things could’ve played out a lot differently at UFC on FOX 30.

Aldo’s coach, Andre Pederneieras, spoke to Brazilian media to talk about his star pupil’s recent win. He revealed that they decided to turn down a fight from Yair Rodriguez before accepting a fight with Stephens (quotes via Bloody Elbow):

“They offered us Yair Rodriguez and it was a fight that didn’t interest us,” Pederneiras said. “He was coming off a loss, way below in the ranking.

“It’s not that we were afraid of Yair, but why am I fighting a guy [in that situation]? But when they offered someone better ranked, coming off a series of knockouts, close to a title shot, that’s worth it.”

Rodriguez is currently the No. 14-ranked featherweight in the UFC.

He’s slated to face Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 228 from the American Airlines Center on September 8th from Dallas, Texas.

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Video: Watch Jose Aldo’s Brutal Calgary TKO In Super Slow-Mo

Jose Aldo’s stoppage of Jeremy Stephens is even more brutal in slow motion.

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Longtime former UFC champion Jose Aldo went into his co-main event fight against Jeremy Stephens at last weekend’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from Calgary, Alberta, with tons of questions to answer about his fighting future.

After some early adversity from the hard-hitting “Lil’ Heathen,” he answered them, proving why he is still one of the most dangerous competitors in MMA at 145 pounds. Surviving an attack of vicious uppercuts from Stephens, Aldo rocked the formerly surging veteran with a brutal two-punch combination to the body that debilitated a fighter even as tough as the hard-nosed Stephens. Aldo poured on the ground damage and the ref stepped in to call off the bout.

It was legitimately one of the most impressive stoppages via body shots in MMA history, and also gave Aldo’s previously fading career a huge shot of life at a time when he needed it most. Watch it in super slow-mo in the UFC’s Fight Night Calgary: Fight Motion video here:

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UFC on FOX 30 Posts Lowest Overnight Ratings Of All-Time

The UFC continues to set all-time lows for viewership.

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Although it delivered one of the most exciting main cards of the year – and even in the history of the UFC on FOX series – the thrilling action at last night’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from Calgary didn’t translate into TV ratings success.

The show featured a scintillating back-and-forth contest between rival lightweights Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez in the main event, a contest that “The Diamond” won with a beautiful finishing sequence (watch it here), and also a thrilling comeback stoppage from longtime former featherweight champion Jose Aldo over Jeremy Stephens (watch here) in the co-main event.

However, that appeared not to matter one bit in terms of viewership. With both UFC ratings and pay-per-view buyrates dropping to all-time lows, UFC on FOX 30 continued that concerning trend by posting only 1,461,000 viewers on fast nationals according to a report from MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer, the lowest overnight number in the series’ history. The number broke the previous low set by January’s Jacare vs. Brunson, which gained 1,593,000 viewers in fast nationals.

By comparison, the numbers were 11 percent lower than last July’s Chris Weidman vs. Kelvin Gastelum-headlined UFC on FOX, which was another all-time low at the time. However, it’s important to note that the fast national only takes into account the 8 to 10 p.m. time slot, and it also only measures the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones. It doesn’t take into account the important Pacific time zone that includes California viewership. Final numbers will be higher and are expected to come out Monday or Tuesday this week.

It wasn’t necessarily all bad, however, as the UFC did propel the FOX network to first place in the key 18-49 age demographic with an 0.6 rating. The other three major television networks of NBC, CBS, and ABC, all had rerun programming while UFC on FOX 30 aired. FOX claimed victory in the 18-34 age demo, but total viewership was the lowest of the four networks due to a low figure in the oldest demo of 50-plus, in which the UFC never brings in high viewership.

The Poirier vs. Alvarez headliner started just after 10 p.m EST, meaning that it just missed the cutoff for counting, but as an only two-round event, it most likely won’t provide a big boost in viewership that a five-round main event could have.

Ultimately the numbers are concerning for the UFC, as UFC on FOX 30 featured what most serious MMA fans considered two can’t-miss bouts in Poirier vs. Alvarez and Aldo vs. Stephens, and from an action standpoint, they were. The card also featured the return of former women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who topped Tecia Torres by unanimous decision on the main card.

With the event gaining 122,000 less viewers that Jacare vs. Brunson, which ended up with 1,770,000 viewers, in overnight fast nationals, the event is unlikely to surpass that card according to Meltzer. It’s hardly a great sign that the UFC set an all-time record for low viewership in most likely the second-to-last UFC event on major network TV until 2024 at the earliest with the UFC moving to cable sports on ESPN in 2019.

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